"Tommy Joe" <
jo...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:5244c013-371b-4f46...@y5g2000yqy.googlegroups.com...
This sounds like the situation in Cleveland, and cases such as as Elisabeth
Smart. Where the relationship is very unbalanced and one person wields
power over the other.
This may help:
What prevented these women from crying out or breaking free whenever they
had the chance? It's too glib simply to invoke the go-to "Stockholm
Syndrome," the phenomenon of captives eventually identifying with their
captors, and leave it at that. But it's nonetheless a big part of things.
Walch speaks of a "learned helplessness" that quickly follows a kidnapping.
At first there is indeed the scratching and fighting and hollering that we
all imagine we'd be able to keep up indefinitely. But slowly, victims
surrender to powerlessness, something that is accelerated if the kidnapper
shows a willingness to inflict pain, but also to withhold it.
"Instead of being tortured, you [receive] kindness," says Walch."You are
given a drop of water, you're not beaten. You begin to develop feelings of
gratitude. Over time it wears on even the strongest person." The human need
for affiliation asserts itself too. Being in the physical company of
someone-anyone-is better than being utterly alone. "If this is your only
contact, you come to value that contact, so that even when given the
opportunity to run away or get help, you don't." That fact is important for
the victims themselves to remember as they recover, in case they ever-as
they well might-blame themselves even a little for the years they lost."
http://tinyurl.com/cywd5yv
Do you feel stuck in a bad situation? Do you tend to give up easily? Do you
feel that no matter what you do, your life will follow a pattern that is out
of your control? When you succeed at something, do you feel it is just a
fluke? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you might be suffering
from a common psychological phenomenon-- a devastating phenomenon that
affects millions of people every day and causes terrible, unnecessary
suffering for those afflicted. The phenomenon is a well-known psychological
state known as learned helplessness.
A person or animal perceives that they are unable to change a situation,
even if the situation is changeable. This feeling of futility is thought to
be caused by an individual's perception of events and their perception of a
lack of ability to control these events. The state of helplessness is
learned after an individual's attempts to correct situations failed, or were
perceived to have failed. The feeling of helplessness is often expanded to
future encounters with similar situations, or even vastly dissimilar
situations.
If you suffer from learned helplessness, here are some helpful steps you can
take:
Find out what situations contributed/caused the feelings of futility.
Acknowledge that although change may take some time, belief structures can
be changed.
Make a compassionate decision to work on overcoming learned helplessness.
Find a good support group or therapist who understands learned helplessness
and can help guide you through the rougher times.
Learned helplessness can be very subtle. Because the feeling is so
interwoven with our deep beliefs about our worth and abilities, it can be a
challenge to overcome. Like any similar psychological phenomenon, feelings
of futility can become such a habit that we do not recognize that we are
involved in a self-defeating process. Learned helplessness can be overcome,
however, with time, patience, vigilance, and compassion towards oneself.
http://tinyurl.com/ctnhzza